Glendora begins review of Route 66 development plan

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Construction is underway for Avalon Bay, a 280-unit mixed-use development, near the intersection of Glendora Avenue and Route 66 in Glendora. The buildings are three- and four-stories tall, with a five-level parking structure in the middle of the complex. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/ San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

GLENDORA>>Residents’ concerns about the approval of a 280-unit apartment complex have prompted the City Council and Planning Commission to review the guiding document behind the development.

The Planning Commission started its review of the Route 66 Specific Plan, a detailed document approved in 2003, that defines what types of development are allowed along the historic highway with the goal of attracting developers and businesses to the city.

“(The plan) intended to revitalize the corridor, as it was viewed by the community at that time to be deteriorating,” Planning Director Jeff Kugel said this week.

Though the specific plan was intended to guide development along the corridor for 20 years, council directed staff in October to re-examine the document and determine if any changes needed to be made to it, Kugel said.

The commission will examine each of the plan’s districts over seven meetings. Tuesday’s discussion addressed the Technology, Commerce and Office section and the Lone Hill Gateway section.

“The vision was for this (TCO) to be the job generator area of the corridor,” Kugel said, “particularly when it came to high-tech kinds of jobs.”

Commissioners questioned the incentives offered in those sectors, which allows developers to increase square footage if they combine multiple parcels of land. Kugel said staff is allowed to limit developers taking advantage of the incentives, but commission chairman Cliff Hamlow disagreed.

“I’m not sure there are illustrations along the Route 66 Plan thus far where that discretion has been used,” Hamlow said. “I think as a general practice we have done the incentive limit.”

The commission plans to meet May 19 to discuss the plan’s Route 66 Service Commercial and Central Route 66 Commercial sectors, which is meant for smaller-scale commercial and manufacturing uses. Future meetings were tentatively scheduled for: the Town Center Mixed-Use on June 16; Barranca Gateway on July 21; Grand Avenue Gateway and Grad/Route 66 Gateway on Aug. 18; Streetscape Improvements and Design Themes on Sept. 15; and a presentation of the report on Oct. 6.

The commission meets at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 116 E. Foothill Blvd.